Online Poker » Best Poker Sites » Best High Stakes Poker Sites

Almost every major poker tournament is played with no limit betting rules and high stakes. There is a definite draw to high stakes poker games as there is always the potential that a single lucky hand could make you a millionaire at the highest stake levels. The best high stakes poker sites continue to push the limits of high stakes - even if the games are often not as well populated. Few online poker players have the capacity (or confidence) to participate in a high stakes no limit $1,000/$2,000 poker game (a $100,000 to $200,000 buy in). However, the best high stakes poker sites certainly come close and sometimes exceed such stakes in order to provide their successful and brave players with the chance to win the poker lottery and take down a player that will never forget the game.

Best High Stakes Poker Sites - Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker hosts one of the largest fields of professionals including Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Chris Ferguson and Patrick Antonius that drive the high stakes poker games at Full Tilt Poker. Of course, Full Tilt Poker is also where you can find some of the most famous high stakes players of all time such as Isildur1 and Tom "durrr" Dwan. Games as high as $1,000/$2,000 are frequently available on Full Tilt Poker.

Best High Stakes Poker Sites - PokerStars

PokerStars has long been known for their wide offering of high stakes poker games - particularly their No Limit offering of $200/$400 games and Fixed Limit games as high as $1,000/$2,000. Although, as expected, these games are not crowded, high stakes games can be found throughout the day at the $50/$100 level.

Best High Stakes Poker Sites - Absolute Poker

Stakes at Absolute Poker can get as high as $200/$400 with a consistently growing bad beat jackpot regularly in six figures. High stakes players can quickly progress through the VIP program at Absolute Poker where they will receive 5% interest on their account and VIP treatment at live poker events - at Diamond Elite status.

Why is High Stakes Poker Popular?

There is a large draw to being the kind of poker player that can casually play high stakes poker for a huge pot. In 2009, Patrick Antonius and the famous (anonymous) online poker player Isildur1 battled each other for the, then, largest poker pot in the history of online poker - $1.3 million in a heads up game of Omaha. Antonius ended up taking down the pot but Isildur1 quickly bought back into the game for $200,000 and continued to play. For most poker players, a million dollar pot is a situation that will likely never happen. However, the best high stakes poker sites frequently offer games where pots can exceed thousands of dollars and they are more populated than the average poker player might think.

Another reason that high stakes poker games are popular is that these games are where the professional poker players tend to congregate at the best high stakes poker sites - against whom playing is another dream of many online poker players. Although professional poker players have won their status by being the best at the game, all it takes is a little bit of luck to take down a massive pot against a professional player. The best high stakes poker sites offer these games in the hopes that players will participate because of these aspects. The best high stakes poker sites also apply rake caps to all poker games regardless of the stakes. For example, at 5% standard rake, you might expect to pay $5,000.00 after winning a huge $100,000 pot. However, at the best high stakes poker sites, rake is often capped around $3.00 - meaning the vast majority of the pot is yours to keep.

Finding the Best High Stakes Poker Sites

One of the most important aspects of the best high stakes poker sites is that they have the site traffic to support high stakes poker games regularly. In fact, these poker sites should have a long standing reputation of supporting high site traffic so that there is a better chance that there are enough large bankrolls on the site to support frequent high stakes poker games. Another often ignored aspect of the best high stakes poker sites is the ability for players on the site to find out when huge poker games are occurring and allows them to observe the action - often called railing. This can be a major draw to a high stakes poker site.

High Stakes Poker Strategy

One of the most important strategies when playing huge pots at the best high stakes poker sites is to recognize your limits and never go into a pot for more than you can afford to lose. High stakes poker players usually have enormous bankrolls that make losing a high stakes poker game comparable to losing a small stakes game as a beginner. Of course, this is not always the case with some online poker players and, using your entire bankroll to buy in to a single high stakes game is usually a poor strategy unless you plan on playing extremely tight - and often eliminating the reason that you cam to play high stakes in the first place and hemorrhaging money. It is important to set limits (both for how much you would like to win and how much you would can lose) and sticking to those limits every time.

The remaining aspects of strategy at the best high stakes poker sites function exactly how strategy would be determined in other poker games. For example, it is important to recognize when you it is time to get out of a pot - even if you feel like you are already too deep in it. Your nut Aces will not always be the best hand - as much as you would like them to be. There is a big difference between playing aggressively and playing foolishly. With thousands of dollars in a pot, it can be difficult to surrender all that money when you know you can't win the hand anymore. However, consistently taking chances with only a few outs may win a few big pots, but will eventually break your back at the best high stakes poker sites.